POLITICS: Obama ties Hillary – Gains clear momentum

Of the 14.6 million votes cast on the Democratic side of yesterday’s super Tuesday primary, Hillary only won by 53,000 votes, or by only 0.36% (i.e., less than half a percent). Obama is said to have picked up more delegates, but the actual number is not clear yet, perhaps 5 to 14 delegates out of the over 1100 up for grabs yesterday.

What does this all mean?

Well it means Hillary is in BIG trouble. Hillary had been ahead in the polls, but now it is clear that Obama has caught up to her and that gives him the advantage in the momentum department.

While Obama did carry six more states than Hillary did, more impressive is how the states he won demonstrated his “appeal in every geographical region”.

As Politico says (here), “His win in bellwether Missouri was impressive by nearly every measure, marked by victories among men and women, secular and churchgoing voters, and urban and suburban voters”.

Worse for Hillary is that she has fallen way behind in fundraising. Politico reports that Obama “raised more than $31 million; Clinton raised less than $14 million. The implication is hard to ignore: Democratic activists and donors are flocking to Obama”. Why? Because they sense who’s going to win.

If that isn’t bad enough, the following line-up of primaries strongly favors Obama for the next month — time in which he can further establish his name to voters. This is critical because the “polls and primary results reveal that the more voters get to know Obama, the more they seem to like him”.

From Politico again:

In caucus states, Obama’s organizational strength shines: He has won seven of eight. Up next are three more caucus states, Washington, Nebraska and Maine.

Obama also runs tremendously well in states with large African-American populations, another promising sign since next Tuesday’s three primaries are in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia — all of which have significant percentages of black voters.

Then comes another caucus state, Hawaii, where Obama is viewed as a native son.

In other words, Obama is expected to win most every primary or caucus from now until March 4th. By the time the Ohio primary (March 4) or the Pennsylvania primary (April 22nd) come around — ones that Hillary has been expected to do well in — it could well be too late for Hillary to do anything to stop Obama’s momentum.